1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly to an improved face plate construction for a golf club head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The heads of golf clubs are generally formed in a one piece casting of durable materials such as stainless steel, beryllium copper, aluminum, etc. A head of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,047 issued May 3rd, 1977 to R.J. Mader. The use of face plates made of a different material than that of the main body of the club head has been used in the prior art in both irons and "wood" type drivers which are often made of cast metal. Such prior art club heads are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,140 issued Dec 20, 1988 to Yamaguchi, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,558 issued Aug. 13, 1985 to Yoneyama; U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,072 issued Nov. 16, 1965 to Burr; and British patent no. 1.227.948 issued Apr. 15, 1971 to Haines, et al. In the heads of all of these prior art patents, the face plate is of a plastic material such as a resin or a carbon fiber composite. It has been found that the use of a forged metal for the face plate of the club head results in a more solid impact and feel which provides better control. However, forged metal is not amenable to casting which mitigates against its use for forming the entire head. Also forged metal tends to have a high density which would make for a club head having excessive weight.